Akbank brings together Turkish companies with Abu Dhabi’s Invest AD

Published February 9th, 2010 - 09:07 GMT

Akbank hosted meetings this week between chief executives from over a dozen Turkish companies and Abu Dhabi financial services firm Invest AD, which i

Akbank hosted meetings this week between chief executives from over a dozen Turkish companies and Abu Dhabi financial services firm Invest AD, which is looking to step up its investments in Turkey.Akbank opened an office in Dubai last year and hosted a series of meetings at its headquarters at the Sabancı Center in Istanbul on Feb. 8-9. A high-level team from Invest AD met executives representing leading Turkish companies from various sectors, including construction, real estate, retail, services, energy and tourism.

Invest AD, which bought a stake in Turkish logistics firm EKOL in December for its new $400 million private equity fund, manages several funds that invest in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

Invest AD Chief Executive Officer Nazem Al Kudsi said he was bullish on Turkey because of the country’s role as a trading centre between Europe and the Middle East, and its fast developing capital markets and financial sector.

“Turkish companies are starting to look eastwards to the Gulf for business opportunities and investment partners, and we believe Turkey is an exciting market, with great growth potential,” Al Kudsi said. “Invest AD has a strong regional network of relationships that extends to Turkey, and with Akbank’s help, we’re looking to build on that.”

Ziya Akkurt, Chief Executive Officer of Akbank, stated that Akbank’s intention for opening a Dubai office was first and foremost to play an intermediary role by encouraging and facilitating investment from the Region, particularly from the United Arab Emirates. “We believe that such meetings will, in the near future, lead to very productive outcomes for Turkish companies as well as the Turkish economy.” Akkurt said. “We will continue to organize more events of this kind in order to attract investors from the Gulf region to our country.”